The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-08-18
TIE LAND OF AsslSIuoIA.

. 81 /.
a Letter from the Eur .Nnrth-A Country
that Is but Little Known. '2a"
Special Correspondence Of The Ia.eitiqnecr.
NAMAKA, PROVINCE OF ALBERTA, July
Ill have been trying all my lie to got
book descriptive OF the portion OF Brit.
ish America through which have been
travelling, and I could never succeed. I
knew nothing Of 1t. l could have been
no more Ignorant OF ii II I had been the
frat explorer. The maps Of the country
are nearly blank, and from then, one can
ascertain u.little. So, in order to satisfy
myself and to crafty curiosity that in.
sisted on being grstihed, have come to
aee tho country for myself.
1t has been no easy thing to tell lust
where the wheat region Of Manitoba end.
ed and the land not adapted to wheat
begiGa. But am plainly not in land
now that can ever amount to much as q
wheat country. Yet, may DO that grain
would. do wull even here under the very
base OF the Rocky Mountains, but no one
has ever tried 1t, or at least can sec no
evidence that any one ever has, for it is
country totally uninhabtod, except in
long distances, and then by only one coli.
tary hermit, or perhaps half doZ an per.
coma living in the same place, as mutual
company and mutual guard against In
dams. E "
Passing westward from the region OF
Lake Winnipeg, and alter crossing the
Assiniboine river, the land began to
change from an absolute level into dis-
tfies little rolling. The undulstion OF
the land Was not great, but perceptible.
A lev trees grew here and there, but were
small and ugly, none being so much as
thirty feet high, and most OF them we're
less than ten fest. They arc ragged and
ungainly in appearance. They do not
stand thick in forests and jnngles, but
one in place, and each one half dead
and old looking.
The grass In places Is excellent and
might give uustenance to almost as many
cattle as might be gotten together. But
saw only g lew bands of cattle, tended by
cowboys. The rest Of the plainB was with.
out occupants. In every fifteen or twenty
| mileB would come to house occupied
by 8ome land agent or some person con-
nected with the railroad service.
But all over the land the grass was not
good. In places, particularly whore the
ridges ross 4 iaw feet above tho lsvel Of
the plain, the soil was sandy, mixed with
coarse powders Of many colors, and the
grass was dry In appearance, fuzzy, and
did not seem to be Of any value. About
the Assinboine river there we're a few
struggling pines on the bluffs, but not
enough to be Of any value.
In other places there were districts OF
swamps and low marshes and very small
lakes, in which wateIas2s and other bad
reeds grew. 1t looked like place not
healthtul to live in. M
After passing Old Wives Lake an ex.
panse OF water not without beauty, but
dreamy in it's surroundings, the grass
which had covered the plains more or lees
up to this time began to be replaced by
weeds OF coarae kind. The weeds them.
selves were not Of sort to hide the ground,
bnt grow just far enough apart to show 8
soil uniertile in ita elements, information
Of dry, coarse gravel mixed with sand. =
,s, rs. THE INHABITANTS. " ft
This region yet has as largo an Indian
population as 1t sver had. It is one OF the
lew parts Of the country in which the e1-
termination OF the native races has not
been pushed as far, and prosecuted as re-
Cntlcsaly 40 in nearly all portions OF
America. The Indian population Of this
eection Of the country never was large. A
few huts By some river, or on some lake,
or q solitsry3 wiewam standing alone fat
removed from all the rest OF humanity, has
always been the gum Of the Indian peoples
living in this region. No part Of North
America has ever been ,deneely occupied
py Indians, and the part between the
Rocky Mountains and the plains OF Hud-
son Bay and Lake Winnipeg, has no. had
more than its share. 1t Ia not country
10 support vast numbers Of people. It 10
not in a latitude 10 givoit that mildness OF
climate necessary to such an end. The
winters are long and black. The returns
OF agriculture, even to the toll OF scientific
hands, must be but meager, much lees
muet it be remuuorative and encouraging
to the untutored savage who has hardly
go much SO animal instincts 10 guide him
in tho .il)sge Of the soil. The short Bnm.
mere, with the pale sunshine, hardly as
warm as our cloudlees days in March, and
poor coil. offer, little Inducements to a
lazy savage to put his hand to the work
end exc out sussenanca by the sweat OF
his brow. 1t Is 60 much easier to do it by
the chase. And to live by the chase is
but to live miserably 60 far as becoming
civilized Is concerned. ~,
So, in this land, We ind the Indiana Of
to-day but few in number, and these with.
out the remoteat idea Of how to support
themselves by work. Indeed, they have
IN idea OF few means by which they can
earn q little money from the whites. They
pick up old buffalo horns about over tho
plain, and polish them very smooth, and
iasten them together in very artistic
manner and sell them to travellers and
tourists at one dollar a pair. The horns
are jet black, and are worth dollar to
any one who wants a curiosity OF tina.
sort. h: 2. 3 s. n a q, sf'S
met bands Of these indians In various
places: Physically, they are the finest In.
dians | have ever seen. They are fully as